Tender awarded to pvt. firm cancelled after worms found in supplied drinking water in Salem city

Councillors speak during the council meeting of Salem Corporation on Monday.

| Photo Credit: E. LAKSHMI NARAYANAN

Salem Corporation Mayor A. Ramachandran on Monday (June 29) announced that the tender awarded to a private company for drinking-water supply within the corporation was cancelled after councillors alleged poor water quality.It was in February that the corporation awarded the tender, worth ₹4,315 crore, to the private company to supply drinking water 24x7 for 25 years. The AIADMK, CPI(M), CPI and VCK had opposed this move and staged protests.During the monthly council meeting at the Salem Corporation office held on Monday, DMK, AIADMK and VCK councillors alleged that substandard drinking water was being supplied to 60 wards and that worms had been found in it. AIADMK and DMK councillors claimed that it was the result of poor chlorination.Councillor of Ward 22 K.C. Selvaraj said worms in supplied drinking water was unprecedented and alleged that use of poor quailty chlorine was the main reason. Moreover, the water did not smell of chlorination, he claimed.Over the past two years, the corporation paid ₹36 lakh-₹50 lakh every three months to a particular contractor to purchase chlorine, he added and alleged that officials received bribes.The Mayor said he, too, had received complaints from the public over presence of worms in drinking water.Officials from the corporation, however, insisted that the chlorine was of good quality and said anyone could check it. They said that water from Mettur Dam was also tested and that water after chlorination was tested once more before supply to the public.Following the arguments, cancellation of the tender was put to a vote, and all councillors raised their hands. Subsequently, the Mayor announced the tender’s cancellation.Commotion over chair, photosEarlier in the meeting, the dais did not have a chair for Deputy Mayor M. Saradha Devi (Congress). Hearing this, she came to the meeting hall, after which a chair for her was placed on the dais along with those of the Mayor and ther Corporation Commissioner.